“The maneuver is a passive reaction but the US presence in the region, like its presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other regions in the world, has only stoked insecurity,” IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said on Friday.
The US and its allies are holding the drills to claim that they can resist against the Islamic Republic but they should know that they are the cause of insecurity in the region, he added.
The US is conducting the anti-mine exercises near the Persian Gulf in cooperation with more than 30 countries. The maneuvers formally began earlier this week but only got under way at sea on Thursday.
The US Navy claims that the exercises are purely defensive and not directed at any country.
A senior Iranian Navy commander said on Thursday that Iran's Armed Forces fully monitor maneuvers of the United States and other countries near the Persian Gulf and other strategic waterways in the Middle East.
“Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have full intelligent awareness over the foreign forces’ moves,” Second Rear Admiral Hossein Azad added.
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